David Flitcroft Out

[Guitar Ray]

11 hours ago, DickDale said:

Personally I don't think the guy's up to the job.

Every other club near us or below us, in the league, signed one, two or three strikers. Some on loan, some from lower leagues.

Since their signing for others clubs, some have scored against us.

Why on earth did we miss out on all these strikers that opposition clubs have mysteriously uncovered?

There's got to be a reason, and sadly it can only be that the guy is out of his depth, and is not up to the job.

I truly feel sorry for him with the abuse etc, but if you can't do what you're supposed to do, then there's only one answer.

It’s patently obvious he’s not up to the job.  As much as we’ve highlighted our poor transfer dealings this January the real damage was done in the summer when players are actually readily available.  We needed 2 strikers yet ended up having to re-sign James Wilson.  Worse still, we recruited players to play a rigidly imposed style of play which left us with no flexibility to change and even less willingness to change.  We gambled on recruiting “top” young talent on loan and as luck would have it two of these players came good, which inevitably meant they’d depart in January leaving a gaping hole, which we decided to fill by gambling again on yet more “top” young players.  Unfortunately, it looks like we lost the bet this time.  If you’ve attended any of the meetings you’ll know that Flitcroft talks the talk but one look at that team out on the pitch will tell you he doesn’t walk the walk.

Ultimately Carol can dig her heels in as much as she likes but the guy is done for.  It’s just a matter of when not if.

[blackdog]

Taken from Wikipedia

Backed by ambitious owner Stewart Day, Flitcroft signed experienced players such as Kelvin Etuhu, Nicky Adams, Ryan Lowe and Shwan Jalal; Flitcroft said that "we’re in League Two, but we try and behave like a Championship club".^[62] The club spent £100,000 on improving the pitch and dressing rooms, whilst long-distance coach journeys were replaced by flights

Sound familiar ? And we all know where Bury ended up.

[darren1810]

I can't believe having like many of you here I've seen us lose 4-1 at home to Macc. Plenty of other humiliations. Was it 6-2 v Lincoln the other year. This feels worse. 

What makes this all the less unpalatable is that it was all so preventable. 

Many fans ( and we all think we're experts ) saw this coming in October and November. Another poster rightly put the Boro game was the final straw. A humongous night for the club to get a massive pay day in a 2 legged semi final , we didn't have an attempt on target. Simply astonishing. 

The club has buried it's head in the sand and I got suckered by the podcast DF did. He literally could sell sand to the Arabs. 

Burton away will be my only game this season. I've had it . Ruining my moods , my weekend and even my sleep ( drama queen alert ). 

I'll renew my 2 season tickets and be back in August but I'm drained by it all for this season. 

Two runs of firstly 11 and now 12 and still climbing, without a win has sucked the life out of me. What used to be my weekend treat, is now an absolute chore and sense that I have to be there. 

I'm not putting myself through it any more and will come with renewed optimism that we might win a few more games in League 2.

Hopefully Flitcroft is sacked by then. 

 

[NW9Valiant]

As I'm moving back into the Stoke area I'm in a position to come to more games and a season ticket is on my agenda for the first time since I lived in Stoke over 12 years ago. 

The thing is, and I bet a lot of people renewing will feel the same way, is they won't want to be taken for mugs. 

We know the club will do a drive for pre season ticket sales, and it looks increasingly likely we are going to be forced into a us vs them situation in terms of getting Flitcroft out. For us, we want to see some cause for optimism and also being able to get behind the manager. Right now, the DoF seems to relegate the manager to a head coach and the head coach has been set up to fail.

I'd agree a lot of us saw this coming - my scepticism started when AC was appointed. In part for me I wanted a manager, not a coach. And to a lesser extent it had the whiff of the club tightening its belt with budgeting. The successive transfer windows, the last 3 now, beg the question of whether the club is being set up to fail. That the financial tightening led to lay offs, compromises in recruitment that affected even DF. 

Ultimately somebody is accountable, and I'd like to know what the club will do to set this right. Promises of renewed optimism and enticing deals to get a ST won't cut it for me. I'd be optimistic and want to get a ST regardless.

So: 

• Why have we failed in the last 3 transfer windows?
• Why do we have a disruptive loan policy for team cohesion? We simply can't operate in half seasons if we want to progress
• Why have coaches (even DM right now) failed to get much out of the players? 
• Has the investment into non-footballing areas shown any return on investment?

Unfortunately the answer to all three for me is David Flitcroft. So Carol needs to then answer why has DF done so poorly. If it is an issue of budget, and she can't solve it, then she needs to ditch the DOF model and go for manager + recruitment team. If the answer is something else, then I'd like to know what senior leadership think this is, and what they plan to do to address it. 

Values, being nice and friendliness doesn't put food on the table or points on the board. Football is a results business and if Carol wants the club to do well then she needs to be willing to make difficult decisions.

It's not nice for somebody to lose their job but ultimately if they can't do the job, or the job is not a right fit for the organisation, then you reorganise and find something that works. David Flitcroft owes nothing to this club and Port Vale Football Club owes nothing to David Flitcroft.

[Wrex]

6 hours ago, NW9Valiant said:

Values, being nice and friendliness doesn't put food on the table or points on the board. Football is a results business and if Carol wants the club to do well then she needs to be willing to make difficult decisions.

It's not nice for somebody to lose their job but ultimately if they can't do the job, or the job is not a right fit for the organisation, then you reorganise and find something that works. David Flitcroft owes nothing to this club and Port Vale Football Club owes nothing to David Flitcroft.

Steve Speed, Colin Garlick, Tom Pope, John Askey, Darrell Clarke, dozens of other wonderful people have all been disposed of without ceremony when their time was up (or it was perceived that their time was up) when the club had disposed of them under Carol's ownership.

Why is David Flitcroft different to all the rest? Why is he untouchable?

Please answer Carol.

Edited March 10 by Wrex

[DazFred]

I have one question for Flitcroft.

What is occurring at the club currently,losing every week,crowds reducing(no way was there 6900 there yesterday),a new manager who has 1 points from 6 games.....is this part of the process he kept banging on about?

[darren1810]

Pity Bourne Sports is long closed in Burslem. 

Let's launch some tennis balls on against Oxford. 

Well not myself I'll be in Manchester enjoying my Saturday at a gig instead of misery.

[Brian Johnson]

6 minutes ago, darren1810 said:

Pity Bourne Sports is long closed in Burslem. 

Let's launch some tennis balls on against Oxford. 

Well not myself I'll be in Manchester enjoying my Saturday at a gig instead of misery.

I usually buy these for my dog. They last a year in between him losing them and chewing them to pieces

30 Used Tennis Balls For Dogs. All Branded Balls, Slazenger, Head, Dunlop, Etc.

WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

 

[Brian Johnson]

Flitcroft need's to go now.

Not all stand together until the end of the season and have an inquest then, because an inquest at the end of this season will have consequences for next season. Because we will be messing around trying to bring a new DOF in which means time lost on getting rid of most of these loser's that are under contract. The work needs to start now on that and a plan need's to be put in place on how we are going to shift them on.

Plus try putting season ticket's on sale in the next couple of weeks with how the fan base is currently feeling, how will that go down especially in regards to season ticket purchases.

If we want a good crack at League Two next season, we can need to act now.

 

 

[Perseus]

42 minutes ago, Wrex said:

Steve Speed, Colin Garlick, Tom Pope, John Askey, Darrell Clarke, dozens of other wonderful people have all been disposed of without ceremony when their time was up (or it was perceived that their time was up) when the club had disposed of them under Carol's ownership.

Why is David Flitcroft different to all the rest? Why is he untouchable?

Please answer Carol.

Does he have pictures?

[pete vale]

"And the EFL itself gives each Championship club £3.92million from its central income, with £950,000 going to each League One club and £640,000 to teams in League Two".

In view of Carol's letter (statement), she stands by Df and says he has saved his salary 'many times over'

In light of theimpending  loss of £310K from the EFLnext season and a loss of £600/£700K in lost ST income, another £100K in merchandise, etc next season, he must be doing a tremendous job. In my profession, I have seen many project contractors/ organisations promising the earth in terms of savings and guaranteed success, only for the deals fall flat on their face leaving the mere mortals to pick up the pieces or the business folds with massive cost outlay.

We are not PL2, we can't play EFL League  football with a squad of crocks, free transfers, youth, has-beens or never-have's. You can't treat the fan base with contempt in this regard. Football is the priority, we will sacrifice amenities and campus's for this (well I would anyway).

Get some sound common sense back in the club and re-evaluate. If it's a struggle and we have run out of time/ money then look for investment.

Use trusted experienced allies, John Rudge being one. There are many supporters with the nous too.

The Club is in a tailspin, heading for places we thought we'd never see under a Shanahan ownership. So sad to see for us all.

Carol/ Kevin will never lose the respect of genuine fans, this situation can still be rectified (maybe not this season), sadly their outlay may not be recovered. That's business, I guess?

I remember a lengthy conversation I had with Terry McDermott (former Liverpool and England Legend for the young uns'!). We talked about football finance/ shares, etc (I was a big roller with £1K in Vale shares at the time!), he said to me at the end. "If you want to make a million out of football - invest £20M my friend". He lost big money in both Newcastle (Before Ashley) and Celtic.

I'd be happy to help any supporter groups and speak with the owners, it may be no use if they are set on this path of destruction sadly.

Edited March 10 by pete vale

[onestepatatime]

Does anyone seriously believe things will be better in Division 2?  Get a grip....Flitcrift will still be here alongside many of those donkeys on the pitch. Nowt will change. Recruitment of "better" players is pie in the sky. Who the hell wants to play for Vale on the alleged inferior wage structure? Why would the Club increase its wages, on less income, when it should have been done ages ago. We are stuck in an ever spiralling hole.  Hundreds,if not thousands of regular attendees are now voting with their feet and will NOT renew season tickets. Action required now Carol, not when we are in a similar position next season. Give the wonderful fan base something to believe in for our future.

 

 

[PortVale4Life]

When will you lot realise you can’t sign players with a league 2 budget. We have a max wage for players. He will be fine in league 2. Carol is to blame 

[WV]

7 minutes ago, pete vale said:

"And the EFL itself gives each Championship club £3.92million from its central income, with £950,000 going to each League One club and £640,000 to teams in League Two".

In view of Carol's letter (statement), she stands by Df and says he has saved his salary 'many times over'

In light of the loss of £310K from the EFL and a loss of £600/£700K in lost ST income, another £100K in merchandise, etc next season, he must be doing a tremendous job. In my profession, I have seen many project contractors promising the earth in terms of savings and guaranteed success, only for the deals fall flat on their face leaving the mere mortals to pick up the pieces or the business folds.

We are not PL2, we can't play EFL League  football with a squad of crocks, free transfers, youth, has-beens or never-have's. You can't treat the fan base with contempt in this regard. Football is the priority, we will sacrifice amenities and campus's for this (well I would anyway).

Get some sound common sense back in the club and re-evaluate. If it's a struggle and we have run out of time/ money then look for investment.

Use trusted experienced allies, John Rudge being one. There are many supporters with the nous too.

The Club is in a tailspin, heading for places we thought we'd never see under a Shanahan ownership. So sad to see for us all.

Carol/ Kevin will never lose the respect of genuine fans but this can still be rectified, sadly their outlay may not be recovered. That's business, I guess?

I remember a lengthy conversation I had with Terry McDermott (former Liverpool and England Legend for the young uns'!). We talked about football finance/ shares, etc (I was a big roller with £1K in Vale shares at the time!), he said to me at the end. "If you want to make a million out of football - invest £20M my friend". He lost big money in both Newcastle (Before Ashley) and Celtic.

I'd be happy to help any supporter groups and speak with the owners, it may be no use if they are set on this path of destruction sadly.

How are we going to lose £700k in season ticket revenue and £100k in merchandise? How much do you think the shop is doing every year? 

Edited March 10 by WV

[pete vale]

5 minutes ago, WV said:

How are we going to lose £700k in season ticket revenue? 

Lose 2,000 ST sales at £300/ ticket is £600K. It may be more than that friend at this rate. We 'may' go back to only 2/2.5K ST holders instead of the 5K+ now. A lot of people I speak to have had enough, money is tight. I personally have threatened to 'finish' many times but have continued to buy in the end. I wouldn't take the chance in the current climate on people doing so.

Edited March 10 by pete vale